I'm contemplating Freelander 2 ownership due to the recent birth of our first child meaning my defender 90 is no longer practical sadly.

My dad had a Freelander 2 which was an 09 plate and his suffered the seemingly fairly common failure of the rear diff which was replaced along with the haldex unit whilst still.under warranty.

My questions are... How common is this really? I've read and heard of a few but as a percentage, how many are likely to suffer it?

Id also read that at some point a stronger rear diff was fitted and possibly a different revision haldex unit? What model year was this on as they would presumably be less likely to suffer the failure?

Thanks!

Not a common as before but it can still happen!

We've got a Dynamic (which is mine) and an XS in the family both purchased from new MY14.

XS very low miles had a new Haldex fitted...

http://www.freel2.com/forum/topic26122.html MY14 Kahn Converted Dynamic - Fuji White Ebony/Pimento Interior
MY15 Xenon Headlight Conversion

MY17 RRS SVR - Estoril Blue Cirrus/Ebony 🪣💺’s

2008 car 178000 miles original diff and haldex
so the old style diff and haldex can last a long time

And no mines not been treated with kid gloves, off-roaded often, towed a caravan a good few miles, and dragged other vehicles across muddy fields when the need has arsen.

don't forget most people come hear for answers, the majority who don't have a problem are probably still in the pub. Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

I think the generation 4 Haldex was fitted from 2009 MY onwards, if I'm wrong the right answer will be along soon
Obviously on a forum you get a view of reliability skewed towards the failures. So is the diff a known problem ? Yes it is, but there are people who have run up a hundred thousand miles and never had a problem. There are a couple of other known problems on earlier cars , the steering rack, and the dual mass fly wheel on manuals. IMHO the diff is a design problem ,as the Evoque uses an updated unit, The Haldex is not a service item with LR , but is with other manufacturers who use the unit.

We've just had a diff rebuilt and fitted I think it was £680 plus VAT with a 2 year warranty, at the same time we had the Haldex filters changed for the extra 30 odd quid plus a bit of labour.

I'm afraid you pay your money and you take your chance.  2009 GS Auto Zermatt Silver - Sold June 21 after 10 years of ownership

2016 Subaru Outback SE 2.0 diesel SE Premium Lineartronic Sold 2024 after 8 years and 80k miles . Best Car I ever owned !

2023 Toyota Hilux invincible X 2.8 Auto
2024 Renault Clio Alpine e-tech .

Thanks all. So in summary I guess ideally to minimise the risk, try and get an 09 model year onwards but in reality it could happen to any of them!

Looking at parts it seems they can be repaired for in the region of £6-800 so significantly less than the ridiculous LR quotes of £2.5k.

Other than this the F2 on the face of it seems to be a very reliable vehicle. More so than the D3 of comparable cost... that seems to have far more expensive faults than the F2. I guess anything is going to seem expensive after running a defender though

Thinking about fuel costs.
Anything is going to look cheap to run compared to a Defender  Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner